Sequins, stand-up comedy and Nicki Minaj songs will grace the presence of UF students on April 13.
At 8 p.m., Pride Awareness Month, a subgroup under UF Pride Student Union, will host its fourth annual drag show at the Phillips Center for Performing Arts, said Andrew McAuley, the Pride Awareness Month executive director.
Performers will include contestants from VH1’s reality show, “RuPaul’s Drag Race,” like Gia Gunn and Ariel Versace, as well as local drag queens like Kelly Kelly and Faith Taylor, McAuley said.
“Drag is such an important part of Pride Awareness Month because it brings so much visibility,” McAuley said. “We are able to show other people outside the community what we do on campus.”
The event is free to the public. Sixty people will be selected from competitions held on the group’s social media pages and from meeting with students throughout next week to participate in a meet-and-greet with the drag queens an hour before the show starts.
The event cost approximately $22,000, primarily through student government allocated funding, McAuley said. About $15,000 of that went toward booking “Ru Paul’s Drag Race” queens.
Audrey Long, a 20-year-old UF psychology and women’s studies sophomore, said she is ready to see local Gainesville drag queens perform on such a large stage. She frequently sees their performances at an LGBTQ+ bar, University Club, at 18 E. University Ave.
“I like how bold the queens are to go against what society projects the conventional gender norms to be,” Long said. “They have a sense of self and rebellion I wish I had.”
